Snow Canyon High stays on top at Moab mountain bike races

Ethan Pack and Porter Radley of Snow Canyon in staging area before their race, Moab, Utah, Sept. 22, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Snow Canyon High Mountain Biking Team, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Utah High School Cycling League’s South Region competed in the third mountain bike race of the season Saturday in Moab, and the Snow Canyon High team from St. George once again took first place in its division.

Billed as the “Slickrock Thriller,” the races took place along a 6-mile loop at the Bar M trails a few miles north of Moab. More than 1,100 riders in grades 7-12 competed in the event. The weather was sunny and clear throughout, with temperatures and dustiness rising as the the day wore on.

Parker Christensen (far left) and Laken Ence of Snow Canyon prepare for the start of their race, Moab, Utah, Sept. 22, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Snow Canyon High Mountain Biking Team, St. George News

Snow Canyon’s top finishers included Parker Christensen, who finished first out of 78 riders in the junior varsity boys division with a two-lap time of 56 minutes, 36 seconds. His teammate Laken Ence finished fourth in the same race with a time of 58:33, and Cameron Ashton of Snow Canyon placed ninth.

Snow Canyon also swept the top three places in the sophomore girls race, as Layla Purdy, Sophie Hafen and Claire Phelps finished a respective first, second and third out of 29 racers. Purdy’s winning time was 1:10:27. Mia Johnson of Desert Hills placed fifth in the sophomore girls race.

Among varsity boys, Kyler Gibb of Snow Canyon and Adam Seegmiller both reached the medals podium with top-10 finishes. Gibb placed fifth with a three-lap time of 1:21:42, while Seegmiller took seventh with a time of 1:23:23.

Dominic Stanworth of Desert Hills placed seventh out of more than 100 racers in the Division 1 junior varsity boys race with a time of 59:18

In the girls varsity race, Hurricane High had two finishers among the top 10, as Braelyn Lisonbee placed seventh and Liv Weber finished 10th.

In the girls JV race, Kate Wilson of Snow Canyon was the top finisher from Southern Utah, with a sixth-place time of 1:14:29. Also making the top 10 were Sophia Phelps of Dixie and Camryn Christensen of Desert Hills, who placed eighth and ninth, respectively.

In the girls freshman race, Breanne Stewart of Desert Hills finished first out of 37 racers with a time of 1:13:04, edging points leader Claire Slemboski of Lone Peak by three seconds. Also making the top 10 were Zoe Knudsen of Iron Giants, who placed sixth, and Kaylee Syphus of Dixie, who finished ninth.

In the sophomore boys race for Division 2, Evan Simmons of Snow Canyon placed fifth with a time of 1:07:32. Bryant Lisonbee of Hurricane placed sixth in that same race, which featured 54 finishers.

Snow Canyon mountain biking athletes and coaches celebrate after winning first-place trophy, Moab, Utah, Sept. 22, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Snow Canyon High Mountain Biking Team, St. George News

In the Division 2 freshman boys race, Andrew Tritle of Dixie High placed second out of 87 riders with a time of 1:04.20. Peter Butterfield of Crimson Cliffs was right behind him with a third-place finish in 1:04:22. Also making the top 10 from Southern Utah were Noah Hunt of Iron Giants, Iron County’s composite team, who took seventh; Kai Christensen of Snow Canyon, who placed eighth; Aaron Carey of Dixie, who took ninth; and Ben Taylor of Snow Canyon, who finished 10th.

Also in the freshman race, Strider Tidwell and Kameron Johnson of Crimson Cliffs finished 13th and 14th respectively, making Snow Canyon and Crimson Cliffs the only two schools to place three riders among the top 15 of that event.

“In face, Southern Utah teams had nine riders total in the top 15, it shows how strong our riders are and how good the future looks for our region,” said Crimson Cliffs coach Chris Tidwell.

In the junior development division, Monet Wall of Crimson Cliffs won the middle school beginner girls race for the third straight time, beating 63 other riders with a time of 46:09. Bristol Noorda of Desert Hills and Emma-Lee Dorman of Crimson Cliffs finished a respective sixth and seventh in that same race.

In the advanced middle school boys race, Mason Manwaring of Crimson Cliffs finished sixth.

In the advanced middle school girls race, Cassandra Evans of Crimson Cliffs placed third, while teammate Gwen Tuttle placed seventh. Other top finishers in that race included fourth-place Taylor Boren of Dixie and fifth-place Katherine Hall of Iron Giants.

Monet Wall of Crimson Cliffs stands atop first-place podium following the middle school beginner girls race, Moab, Utah, Sept. 22, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Crimson Cliffs Mountain Biking Team, St. George News

In the beginner boys seventh-grade race, Dallin Holt and Caleb Gunnerson of Desert Hills placed seventh and 10th, respectively.

In the beginner boys eighth-grade race, Crimson Cliffs had three racers among the top six out of 59 finishers. Hudson Morby took fourth, Frankie Cavallaro placed fifth and Carson Anderson was sixth. Andrew Burton and Taylor Anderson of Desert Hills took seventh and 11th, respectively, in that same race.

In the intermediate seventh-grade boys race, Jacob Tribble and Seth Christensen of Hurricane both had top-10 finishes, with Tribble placing fifth and Christensen 10th. Also in that race, Jordan Porter of Desert Hills placed seventh.

Chase Cloward of Snow Canyon placed seventh in the intermediate eighth-grade boys race.

For complete results of Saturday’s event in Moab, click here.

The fourth and final race of the regular season is scheduled to take place at the Three Peaks Recreation Area in Cedar City on Oct. 6. The state championship races will be staged in St. George Oct. 20-21.

For more information about the Utah High School Cycling League, visit its website.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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